Leithead Todd’s defense bill: $61,000 and rising

Hawaii County taxpayers are footing the bill for Environmental Management Director Bobby Jean Leithead Todd to defend herself from a lawsuit claiming she’s not qualified for the job, and the case isn’t over yet.

The County Council on Wednesday voted to pay $47,231 for legal fees and court costs, on top of the $13,860 that had already been paid. Leithead Todd hired Kona attorney Robert Kim to represent her. Third Circuit Court Judge Ronald Ibarra had denied the county’s efforts to represent her or intervene in the case.

Then South Kona/Ka‘u Councilwoman Brenda Ford filed the lawsuit in 2013, saying Leithead Todd did not have the engineering degree or degree in a related field required by the county charter. Ibarra ruled that Ford, represented by Kona attorney Michael Matsukawa, didn’t show that Mayor Billy Kenoi or the County Council abused their discretion in approving Leithead Todd for the position. Ibarra subsequently denied Ford’s motion to reconsider his ruling.

Matsukawa on Tuesday filed an appeal with the Intermediate Court of Appeals, where a similar case against former House Speaker Calvin Say is also pending. The Say case revolves around whether he lives in his House district.

Matsukawa said Wednesday his client decided to appeal the case because Ibarra’s ruling doesn’t conform with the law. Ford is footing her own legal bills.

The County Council approved paying Leithead Todd’s legal bills in a closed session.

But two council members said afterward it bothers them that taxpayers are ultimately on the hook.

“The responsible party should be the person to pay for these expenses instead of the taxpayers,” said Hilo Councilman Dennis “Fresh” Onishi, who had voted to confirm Kenoi’s appointment of Leithead Todd.

Hilo Councilman Aaron Chung, who wasn’t on the council when the confirmation vote came up, said Ford could have taken a different tack, and asked the court for a declaratory judgment, rather than using the little-used “quo warranto” legal device where Leithead Todd was personally compelled to show she qualified for the position.

“I believe if Ms. Ford was truly looking out for the best interests of the county,” Chung said, “she would have acted more responsibly.”

Appeals can drag on for years, making it increasingly likely the lawsuit could become moot. Kenoi’s tenure, and the tenure of his department heads, ends in December 2016.

Ibarra had noted in his 15-page ruling that both sides had agreed the charter language is ambiguous. Ibarra quoted extensively from the transcripts of the 2009-10 Charter Commission in forming his ruling. The commission had debated what kind of degree would be related to engineering, and then decided not to make it more specific but to leave it to the County Council’s interpretation.

Leithead Todd, an attorney with a degree in English, held the director job under a previous mayor before the charter language was changed. She left that post to head the Planning Department under Kenoi, from 2009 until December 2013, when she returned to Environmental Management.